erithacus' saga: occupational ties

This routine went on for a week. Then I gave the job up. Termination of contract was both the result of the hotel insisting I should use my future earnings to pay for the black bow tie and white shirt they required me to wear, and because I had found a more appealing employment opportunity. The bar manager, Mr Wilmslow, did not understand my objection to paying for my own bow tie. “Everyone else has to” he argued to support his case.

Faced with the prospect of a long, costly and energy-eroding legal battle I bowed to Mr Wilmslow’s infallible logic and we eventually reached an out-of-court settlement whereby the hotel would hang on to the white shirt (upon which the “Wayfarer’s Hotel” logo was delicately embroidered in Marine blue) and I would get to keep the black bow tie, which I would be able to use “whenever and wherever I liked”.